‘Familiar place’: Colorado Rockies first-round pick Gabriel Hughes, former Gonzaga star, starts 2023 season with Spokane Indians

With the move to full-season baseball in High-A, some pitchers have had a tough time adjusting to the dicey April weather in Spokane.

Gabriel Hughes knows what he’s in for.

Hughes, 21, was the Colorado Rockies’ first-round draft pick – No. 10 overall – in last year’s MLB draft. But the big right-hander played at Rocky Mountain High School in Boise and pitched for Gonzaga, so he’s ready for anything Mother Nature can throw at him.

“I’ve grown up pitching in snow and rain and wind and sub-40 degrees my whole life, so it’s nothing new to me,” Hughes said. “And I absolutely think that pitching like that growing up gave me a step up.”

Hughes, 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, went 8-3 with 138 strikeouts in 98 innings as a sophomore for the Zags. His fastball sits 94-95 mph and touches 97, with a slider and developing change-up.

“People have asked me how it feels to be the highest-drafted player in Gonzaga history, and I’ve always said it just makes me excited for what comes next – because I know I’m not the last,” Hughes said from the Rockies’ spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, in March.

“I think the part that’s most exciting for me is that I might have been the latest, but I know there’s so much talent coming through that school in the next couple of years and that’s at the school right now. That really gives me a source of pride, knowing that’s the brand I’m representing.”

Hughes thinks it’s mentality, rather than mechanics, that gives Zags pitchers a leg up.

“I think a huge part of it is the underdog, chip-on-the-shoulder mentality,” he said. “You know, we’re in Spokane, Washington. The weather isn’t the best year-round. We’re competing against Pac-12 schools every week and we have a brutal nonconference schedule every year. And it’s just the mentality that we’re gonna get more done with less, and it’s going to drive us to be better.”

After some time off following the draft, Hughes made his professional debut in Low-A Fresno at the end of last season with one appearance, throwing three scoreless innings. He was excited when he found out he would start this season in Spokane.

“Being able to go out in Spokane, in the city where my college career started and really took off, and being able to come back there and really start my professional career means a lot to me,” Hughes said. “Being able to do it in front of coaches who helped shape me into the player I am today, teammates who were there every step of the way. Friends, professors, really everyone that I’ve met in Spokane, being able to go back there and really start my professional career means the world to me, and I’m glad to be in such a familiar place.”

Hughes had an idea he would be drafted in the first half of the first round last summer.

“You know, I joked before the draft, ‘Oh, yeah, if the Rockies draft me, I’ll come back to Spokane at some point.’ I didn’t actually think it was gonna happen. And then it happened. So, that was probably the second or third thought that went through my head after I got the call was, I’m going to be going back to Spokane.

“That whole week is pretty much a blur to me. I had so much happen in that week that I was just happy at the end of the day to I end up where I ended up.”

Hughes had the opportunity to make his first start with the big league roster at spring training on March 20 against the Dodgers. He tossed one-hit ball over three shutout innings with four strikeouts.

“I have had time to reflect on it and I’m obviously really happy with the results,” he said. “Going back and looking at it, I know there’s still some more stuff I need to work on. I left a couple sliders up, couple fastballs up. But, you know, it’s great to be able to look back and be like, ‘OK, that was a really solid first outing.’ But for me, it’s just a building block for what comes next.”

Rockies manager Bud Black was impressed with what he saw.

“He came out and he pitched a very nice three innings in an exhibition game against the Dodgers,” Black said. “It was fun. I think one of the keys was how aggressive he was throwing strikes. From our scouting reports, and our amateur scouts who saw him, that’s what they saw – a guy that pitches aggressively with the fastball, has a good breaking ball, is on the attack and we saw that.

“He was a guy that was on everybody’s radar as a potential high draft pick, and he’s ready for these challenges as he starts his process to hopefully become a major league pitcher.”

Chris Forbes is the Rockies’ director of player development. He calls Hughes a “workhorse.”

“He’s an aggressive guy,” Forbes said. “He’s actually a tick mean on the mound. And I love that part, because he wants to attack you and he attacks hitters and the stuff is just, at times, explosive and late. If he’s holding the zone, you know, this is the guy that you’re hoping with health that everything falls in place.

“Where we took him (in the draft), we took a mid- to upper-rotation type guy. He’s gonna keep refining his attack. But you know, the delivery and the durability and all that factors in there right now. We’re in a pretty good spot.”

Hughes tried to soak in the experience of pitching for the Rockies in spring training.

“It was incredible,” he said. “There are no words to describe pitching for the big league team in front of 10,000 fans. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced that in my life. If that’s the taste of it, then I want all of it. I want more. It was an incredible experience. And, you know, it just leaves me hungry to keep climbing, hungry for more.”

He knew about a week in advance of the assignment. Hughes texted his brother then called his parents.

“They were excited for me,” he said. “They started thinking, ‘OK, how can we get down there and watch?’ “

This time last year he was pitching against competition from the West Coast Conference.

“I had a moment before the game where I’m by myself in the locker room and I’m looking at the lineup and it’s like, ‘OK, I’m pitching against the Dodgers today. All right,’ ” he said. “That’s a little bit different than the teams I was preparing for last year.

“It’s a little bit different of a level, a little bit more fans, different environment. But at the end of day, it’s the same game. And so it’s the same level of competition. I’m going out there every day competing against myself.”

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman were still away from the Dodgers for the World Baseball Classic when Hughes faced them, but he struck out veterans David Peralta, Chris Taylor and Jason Heyward in succession in the first inning.

“I mean, I kept throwing pitches,” Hughes said. “I’m up there and I’m thinking in my head, ‘OK, what do I throw next? What do I want to sequence, what’s gonna follow this pitch well?’ It’s just pitching, you know?

“I’m not out there thinking who I’m facing or who’s at the plate or how many people are there. I’m just thinking, ‘OK, what comes next? What comes after that? I’m taking it one pitch at a time and I’m really thankful the pitches happened to work out.”

Hughes met his catcher, veteran Elias Diaz, an hour before the game.

“He called a great game,” Hughes said. “We sat down and talked about what pitches I wanted to throw. He asked questions and wanted to make sure that I was as comfortable as possible out there. So, I was really thankful for his experience and his leadership in the game.”

Hughes is trying to remain as levelheaded as possible about his journey.

“I’m not resting on anything,” he said. “I’m out there every day trying to play baseball, trying to get better, compete against myself every single day. So, I reflected on it. And then I moved on and I got work.”

He’s going to take his spring training experience forward this season as he gets set to face Northwest League batters.

“I know what it looks like to be at the top of the ladder,” he said. “I know what it looks like to be pitching for a major league team. I’ve seen guys do it. I know what it looks like when they’re off the field, the amount of work they put in in the weight room and treatment and staying healthy.

“I know what the end goal is, and I know what it’s gonna take to get there. So that’s what I’m gonna be doing every day, is taking steps ensuring that I’m on my way there.”